How to decide which collections to focus on for collection SEO

Let’s say you’ve got a Shopify store with some collections already. Maybe you have five, 25, or 95 collections already.

No matter how many collections you have, you’re faced with a collection SEO problem: how many of your existing collections should you take the time to optimize?

I recommend focusing on just a select subset of all of your collections. You don’t need to optimize all of them, just some of them. (Or at least, to start.)

So, which collections should you focus on? And how should you tell which? to focus on?

Should you optimize all collections at once? Or just a few at a time?

I recommend working on just a small number of collections at a time.

This slow, steady, incremental approach will help you progress over time. Plus, this approach will help you refine your tactics and technique as you work on different batches of collections instead of trying to do everything all at once.

Picking ‘SEO priority’ collections to focus on

There are a few different ways to prioritize and pick which collections to focus on. The individual collections you start with don’t matter that much. Because you’ll be following an incremental approach to optimization, you’ll work your way through your collections over a few weeks or months.

Here are a few ways to slice through your list of ‘all collections.’ I’m presenting these in no particular order. These paths are fine to go from ‘all collections’ to ‘some collections.’

  1. Collections that are already getting traffic in Google. Look in Google Analytics. Segment and filter down to collections on your site receiving traffic from Google over the past ~3-6 months. Pick the top ~3-5 collections off your list. Focus on optimizing those collections first.
  2. Collections you have a feeling about. If you have a few favorite collections or have a hunch/feeling about them, start working on them.
  3. Collections that are already getting clicks in Google Search Console. Use Google Search Console’s performance report.
  4. Collections that are ranking on the cusp in Google Search Console. You want to segment and filter in Google Search Console to look at collections ranking ~8th – 17th for relevant keywords. Then, focus on optimizing those collections for those keywords.
  5. Collections linked to from the top level of your navigation. If you’re linking to a collection in the top level of your navigation, then it’s worth optimizing that collection for SEO. Google will see the collection in your navigation and be more likely to visit it. And since it’s linked in your nav, your visitors will be more likely to visit the collection.
  6. Collections in your homepage content. If you’re linking to a collection in your homepage content, it’s worth optimizing that collection. Homepage content links to collections help Google see those collections as potentially being more relevant.

Track your collections + keywords in the Collection Keyword Map

As you identify collections to optimize, I recommend adding them to your Collection Keyword Map. That way, it’s easy to keep track of the keywords you’re optimizing for and the pages targeting those keywords. Access that free resource in the next chapter.

Now that you’ve finished reading this chapter on collection SEO, you can:

Read the previous chapter

Splitting collection descriptions above/below products

Read the next chapter

The Collection Keyword Map

Or you can jump to one of these reader-favorite chapters:

If you want help growing your Shopify store, I encourage you to check out my Shopify SEO + Growth services or get in touch and tell me about your store.

Free email course on collection SEO 📬

Sign up today and get a free email course on Shopify Collection SEO.

Every weekday for twelve days, you’ll receive an email with actionable, insightful information about how to approach Shopify Collection SEO:

✅ SEO tips. Get tips on how to optimize your store’s collections. Learn how to rank your collections higher and get more traffic from Google.

✅ Free resources. Get free SEO resources, like my Collection Keyword Map.

✅ SEO and Marketing advice. Learn how to grow your Shopify store with Collection SEO.

Plus, no spam or hype. I created this free email course on Collection SEO to help stores do SEO better and share practical and pragmatic tips on SEO.

Sign up today and you’ll get the first letter in your inbox today.

A free course on Collection SEO. This form yeets them to Drip with a tag.

You'll receive my articles, letters, and tips on Shopify Collection SEO at that address.

Scroll to Top